COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — LSU’s bid for a 10-win regular season, which would have been their ninth in the past 20 seasons and 11th overall, was spoiled Saturday night by a determined Texas A&M team.
Although LSU travels to Atlanta for next week’s Southeastern Conference championship game and Texas A&M was confident they would finish last in the SEC West, the roles were reversed when they met at Kyle Field.
Texas A&M picked the fight early at No. 5 in LSU and walked away with a 38-23 win, ending the hopes of the Tigers, the four-team CFP field with a win and an upset against No. 1 Georgia next week to reach.
LSU’s 10-win regular seasons were 1908, 1958, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2019. Counting the postseason, the Tigers won 10 games six more times.
Daniels rises
LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels produced 273 total yards of offense in the setback against Texas A&M on Saturday night and now has 3,390 yards — the second-highest single-season total in school history.
Only joe burrow, who had 6,039 yards while winning the 2019 Heisman Trophy and leading LSU to the CFP Championship has committed more total offenses in a season in program history.
Daniels, who hit the 3,000-yard mark last week with 3,117 yards so far, passed Saturday night Rohan Davey (3,351 in 2001), Burrow (3,293 in 2018) and Ja Marcus Russell (3,271 in 2006).
Daniels, who left Saturday’s game twice with a lower leg injury only to return, has 2,566 yards passing and 824 rushing yards this season.
Williams, Bernard-Converse Sitting
Back race josh williams and corner backs Jarrick Bernard-Converse were injured and ruled out of Saturday’s game.
Williams was on the field to warm up but missed a second straight game with a knee injury he sustained against Arkansas on November 12. Noah Cain got his first start since the season opener in William’s place.
Bernard-Converse missed his first game with a concussion, LSU coach Brian Kelly said after the game.
Nickel back Jay Ward moved to cornerback to replace Bernard-Converse. Redshirt newbie Sage Ryan played Ward’s seat at the Nickel but didn’t start because LSU opened with a 4-3 base defense.
Lacy gets the first start
Junior wide receiver Kyren Lacy, a UL transfer, made the first start of his LSU career when he opened the contest in a three-wide set with brian thomas and Jack Bech.
Lacy, who had 18 receptions for 160 yards in the first 11 games of the season, had a catch for 8 yards while being targeted three times against the Aggies.
Frazier and Dellinger
Miles Frazier was the only offensive lineman to start all 12 games for LSU when he grabbed the first snap at left for a sixth straight game.
He has started seven games as a left guard, four as a right guard, and one as a right tackle.
Garret Dellinger, who started four games at left before suffering hand and knee injuries, returned to play in a rotation with Frazier last week and did so again on Saturday night. He started the second half against A&M.
LSU lands ’25 prospect
Four-star cornerback Jaylen Bell committed to LSU on Saturday, giving the Tigers their first player in the 2025 class.
According to On3Sports consensus ratings, Bell is a top 50 recruit, reinforcing a pipeline LSU has formed with Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia. He is the third defender for powerhouse Georgia to sign between the 2023 and 2025 classes.
Kelly and his staff previously landed 2023 with four-star security Michael Daugherty and 2024 four-star cornerback Zion Ferguson by Grayson.
lagniappe
Kelly had a 19-game winning streak in November that stretched back into the 2018 season. … With Williams and Armoni Goodwin both out, LSU only had two scholarships for running backs as of Saturday night — Cain and John Emery. … LSU was shut out in eight SEC games in the first quarter for the sixth time. The only league teams where the Tigers scored in the opening quarter were Florida (seven) and Ole Miss (three). … LSU has now lost three straight games to Texas A&M at College Station. The Tigers had previously won three straight games at Kyle Field. … LSU is 8-3 in games played between its border rivals since A&M joined the SEC in 2012.
The Advocate’s Authors Wilson Alexander, Scott Rabalais and Leah Vann contributed to this report.